


Caduceus

by deerflower



Category: RWBY
Genre: Also Mercury questions his life choices, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Even if this fic doesn't quite reach that point, Gen, How Do I Tag, I'm Bad At Tagging, I'm a firm believe in big brother Mercury, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Torture, Injury, Kidnapping but the morally correct kind, Oscar is bitter at Ozpin, one day...
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:47:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28204080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deerflower/pseuds/deerflower
Summary: Mercury Black was no one’s saviour, is what he told himself. Working alongside the immortal evil queen who wanted to destroy the world for the latter half of your teen years hardly made for good hero material, aiding in the murder of two teenagers and countless others hardly made for good hero material, being Mercury Black hardly made for good-He was no one’s saviour. And he definitely wasn’t anyone’s hero.So what the hell was he doing in the middle of the Atlesian tundra, Aura nearly depleted, fingers so cold he could barely feel them, with an unconscious 15 year old that he’d busted out of Salem’s base slung over his shoulders?Gods, he was screwed.---In other words: Mercury Saves The Kid. Written after V8E5, canon divergent after that point.
Relationships: Mercury Black & Oscar Pine
Comments: 10
Kudos: 109





	Caduceus

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, so this is kind of my first time writing a fic for this source but I just had to hop on the "Mercury rescues Oscar" trend because I loved the concept. Wrote this after Episode 5 dropped, sat on it for awhile, then edited it a bit after Episodes 6 & 7 and decided to post it. Hope someone out there enjoys, lol. Also: No beta reader, we die like men! 
> 
> Cheers! ~

Mercury Black was no one’s saviour, is what he told himself. Working alongside the immortal evil queen who wanted to destroy the world for the latter half of your teen years hardly made for good hero material, aiding in the murder of two teenagers and countless others hardly made for good hero material, being _Mercury Black_ hardly made for good-

He was no one’s saviour. And he definitely wasn’t anyone’s hero.

So what the hell was he doing in the middle of the Atlesian tundra, Aura nearly depleted, fingers so cold he could barely feel them, with an unconscious 15 year old that he’d busted out of Salem’s base slung over his shoulders?

Gods, he was screwed.

The sequence of events that led him here weren’t altogether clear, he knew what he’d done, but it’d been hasty, a cobbled together plan driven by his _feelings_ of all things. Somehow that was the part he found the most disturbing to dwell upon, not the fact he’d most certainly be killed by Salem once she found out about his betrayal, or that he might just die out here in the tundra before he could even find help - and, Gods, where the hell was he going to get that with everything going on? - no, it was that he had let his emotions get the better of him. Something he’d had drilled into him _not_ to do for pretty much his entire life.

_You’re weak_ . Not for the first time, he heard his father’s words ring in his head. Mercury had proven himself, shown he wasn’t weak when he took his father’s life, but that never stopped the nagging voice in the back of his head, the reminders to never let his guard down or get too close. To never _feel_.

By the looks of things right now he certainly excelled at failing every lesson his dad taught him. Walking into that room, seeing that kid on the floor, beaten and bloody, with Hazel of all people standing above him. It brought something back, feelings and memories that Mercury had buried, pretended to have gotten over. The image of himself and his father came to mind, the relentless beatings masked as training. He shouldn’t have cared, shouldn’t have let it get to him. This - whatever this was - wasn’t him. Defecting from Salem? Taking her prisoner with him because of some misplaced feeling of...he didn’t even know what? Those weren’t the actions of Mercury Black, if anything it’s what he’d expect of _Emerald-_

He cut those thoughts off before they could start, he couldn’t think about Emerald right now, he definitely couldn’t think about the very real possibility that she’d be punished for his actions. Because for however much he pretended he didn’t care about anyone or anything it still made him sick to imagine that on top of everything else going through his mind right now. No, he just had to keep moving. One foot in front of the other.

The most important thing right now, besides ignoring his impending doom, was finding shelter. They wouldn’t last in this cold for long, the kid’s Aura was already completely shot and his own was running too low for his comfort. He was pretty sure there was an outpost nearby….pretty sure. He just had to survive long enough to find it. They’d hunker down, the kid could rest, and then…

“Shit.” Mercury muttered to himself, realizing he didn’t exactly have a plan after that. Atlas was a mile in the air and even if it wasn’t it wasn’t like he could just waltz in like _hello! I’ve retrieved your lost child!_ when he was a wanted criminal. Besides he thinks if Little Red and her gang caught sight of him with their friend slung half dead over his shoulders he’d be dead before he could explain. Mercury sighed, what the hell had he gotten himself into?

* * *

  
  


It was awhile - too long if you asked him - before Mercury caught sight of the outpost peeking over a snow dune. His breath hitched and his hands twitched, grunting as he picked up his pace, trudging through thick snow as he neared the small shack. His Aura was almost out and the cold bit at his exposed flesh and made the area where his prosthetics met his legs ache. The kid was in worse shape, Mercury tried not to notice how even through his coat and layers of clothing he was cold to the touch, his breathing slow. A few times he’d nearly roused, jostled by Mercury’s messy trek through the snow, but after awhile he’d just gone quiet. Mercury didn’t like that.

As they approached the outpost he let out a sigh of relief, wincing as he moved one of his hands from where it held the kid to grip the handle before throwing open the door. He shuffled inside, kicking the door shut behind him. It wasn’t much to look at, a furnace- he’d have to get that working if this place would do them any good - a few beds, and a workbench with some supply cabinets nearby, but it’d do. 

He placed the kid on one of the beds, his shoulders and arms both sighing in relief from having the weight taken off of them and hissing in pain from movement after being held in the same position for who knows how long. He took a moment to look him over and grimaced, his skin was pale and flushed from the cold, not to mention the damage Hazel had done; Dried blood caked under and around his nose, a dark bruise on the flesh around one of his eyes, and probably more damage that he couldn’t see. Mercury found himself clenching his fists to suppress the unexpected feeling of disgust rising in him.

He'd been even younger than this when his father...he squeezed his eyes shut and took a level breath. _Control yourself for god's sake. You’ve never let this bother you before, don’t start now._

Standing up sharply from the bedside he walked over to the furnace, after fiddling with it for a few moments he managed to get it to turn on, heat finally beginning to fill the small space after it made a few sputtering sounds. Outpost, check. Heating, check. Making sure the kid stayed alive long enough to make sure this wasn’t completely pointless...Mercury glanced at him. His breathing was still slow, but the color was slowly returning to him as he warmed up. Check.

He stayed crouched there in front of the furnace for a long moment, letting the heat return to his body, expression blank. _What the hell am I doing?_ He thought to himself. Since when did he care what happened to a few annoying twerps, especially ones on the side of that annoying redhead and her crew? He'd successfully played his part, done what he'd been told, first by Cinder and then by Salem, done what he had to to _survive_ . That was what he did, he survived, he looked out for himself, no one else, except maybe Emerald when she needed it. And he'd just thrown all of that away for some kid he didn't even know for no reason. _You've really done it now, huh, Merc?_

Eventually he shifted into a sitting position with his back against the opposite wall, head leaned back so his gaze was fixed on nowhere in particular. He closed his eyes and for the first time since leaving the Monstra the extent to his actions finally caught up to him. He sighed,

“I’m so screwed,”

* * *

  
  


When Mercury next opened his eyes he was jolting awake from a sleep he hadn’t even realized he’d slipped into. Confusion flooded his senses at first, not recognizing the cramped room around him but in a split second the memories of his actions the hours previous crashed down upon him like a bucket of cold water. Instantly his eyes flashed to the bed, dull worry spiking in his throat, but the kid was still knocked out cold. He sighed and pushed himself up from his position against the wall, his body groaning in protest, and walked over to the bed.

He was fast asleep, fingers twitching and eyes moving rapidly behind closed lids. Mercury scoffed to himself, the kid was _dreaming_. For a moment he considered waking him but he almost immediately cut out that plan, not knowing what the hell he’d even say or do. He was finding he didn’t know what to do a lot lately. So that was the first order of business, he supposed, to make an actual functioning plan.

He plopped down on one of the other beds, it creaking under his weight as he did so, and tried to think. The kid - Oscar, he was pretty sure that was his name, he hadn’t really bothered to learn names most of the time - was in bad shape, he had no idea where his friends (the ones who would most likely attack him on sight) were, and he was stuck in the middle of a desolate tundra while his former boss was probably planning 50 different ways to kill him for stealing her prisoner and fucking up her plans. Great.

...Okay, maybe he _should_ wake him up, if anyone was likely to know where Red and company were it was this twerp. _Goddammit Mercury what the hell have you gotten yourself into that the only place you can turn is the 15 year old you kidnapped from Salem?_ Was the only thing he could think as he walked back over to the other bunk, staring down at the kid.

Maybe his method of waking him should have been more...gentle but that had never exactly been his strong suit,

“Hey, wake up,” He said, shaking the kid’s shoulder. The results weren’t immediate, he grumbled and tried to turn away at first and honestly Mercury was already about to sigh and start shouting when suddenly the kid’s eyes snapped open. Mercury nearly flinched as Oscar shot back against the wall, kicking the blankets and pillow astray, his eyes fever-bright with fear and then confusion as they bounced rapidly around the room before landing back on him. For a moment Mercury saw himself reflected back at him, small and afraid, curled against the wall in his childhood home, an angry voice yelling at him, eyes wide and afraid and then - then it was gone. And he was still staring at a scared kid, but a different scared kid. He clenched his jaw and retracted his hand,

“I’m not-” He began, but the kid cut him off,

“What’s going on? Where am I, what -” He screwed his eyes shut and Mercury could hear the way his breathing shook before he opened them again, his expression calmer this time, “I don’t know what this is but I’m still not telling you anything,” He was surprised at the resolve in his voice, the way the fear had melted away in an instant. Despite everything, he was still trying to keep a hold of whatever it was Salem wanted out of him. It was stupid, if he knew what was good for him he would've just told her what she wanted to know,

“Right, let’s cut to the chase,” He had to be blunt, that was the only way this was going to work, “I don’t want whatever Salem was trying to get out of you - I don’t work for her anymore and in case you haven’t noticed we’re in an Atlesian tundra outpost, not that weird torture chamber she had you hooked up in. All I want is to know where your dumb friends are so we can avoid dying a cold death in the middle of nowhere, provided Salem doesn’t find us first and kill me - most likely painfully and slowly - for helping you,” The kid stared at him, behind him actually, like he was looking at something else. His eyes shifted for a moment and his face twitched and Mercury had never been the best at reading people but something was off about it,

“Do you really expect me to believe that?” He responded, voice almost sounding _annoyed_ and Mercury found himself mirroring the feeling. Of course the kid wouldn’t believe him,

“Listen, kid, Salem’s done nothing but use you as a punching bag for the past few hours,” The kid tensed at the mention of Salem and Mercury resisted the urge to grimace, “Why would she switch gears and have some lackey like me drag you out into the tundra to do...what, exactly? What kind of plan is that?” Oscar hesitated for a moment, looking Mercury over, in the few moments they’d been here the kid had already managed to collect himself and was doing a surprisingly good job at hiding whatever it was he was thinking right now. He was...different from that kid that had fought Hazel back in Haven, even Mercury could see that now,

“Why...why would you help me?” Was what he asked next and Mercury sure as hell couldn’t tell him the real answer to that question, so instead he shrugged, acting nonchalant as always,

“This isn’t my war to fight but the way things are going I’d rather be on your side right now than Salem’s,” He lied, not like that was hard for him, he and Emerald built their entire careers (if you could even call them that) off of lying to people to get what they wanted, or more accurately, what Cinder wanted. He brushed away the thought of her almost as fast as it came on, focusing back on the kid,

“So I’m your bargaining chip,” His voice was flat and tired and Mercury leaned back on his heels,

“Bingo,”

Oscar's shoulders sagged and Mercury almost thought he felt guilt creeping up his spine but he disregarded it,

"Well, it's not like I'm not used to being someone's tool," He muttered, then curled in on himself once again, gaze growing cold as his fingers dug into the fabric of his pants and he hugged his legs close to his chest, visibly wincing. Mercury assumed the position was aggravating some of his injuries, but he didnt move, "I don't care if you're not with…her. You can do whatever you want, I'm still not telling you anything,"

Mercury's mouth twitched downwards, he took a breath, tried to clear his thoughts, then stood up and walked outside, slamming the door behind him.

* * *

  
  


Oscar flinched as the door slammed shut behind the boy. Briefly he wondered if he was leaving him here but that didn't make any sense. If he was telling the truth, and that was a big _if_ , what use would it be to abandon his only advantage?

He sat unmoving for a moment, waiting, then slowly, cautiously unwound himself once it seemed he really was alone for now, wincing as he did so. His body ached, even more than it had after the battle at Haven or his first few weeks of training. Thinking about the events of the past few hours - of the past few _months_ \- made him want to curl in on himself once again and pretend none of this was happening. That he hadn't just been beaten to the point of unconsciousness and then some, that he hadn't been shot off a cliff by someone he had trusted, or had attempts made on his life by people he'd never even met, and most of all that he hadn't been shoved into some destiny that he had never even asked for. He just wanted to pretend that he was back home on his farm and this was all some sick dream and he'd wake up any minute to his aunt calling him down for breakfast.

His head fell to his hands, fingers knotted in his hair, face screwed up in a pained expression. He just wanted things to go back to normal, but normal didn't exist anymore, and he had to figure out what the hell he was going to do now. Drawing in a deep breath that came out more shakey than he would have liked, he tried to calm himself and put his thoughts in order.

_'Oscar?'_

He gritted his teeth,

"What?" He bit out, not having the energy to keep this conversation with Ozpin confined to his - their head.

_'I told you we'd be alright._ ' That was debatable, Oscar thought bitterly, and he didn't miss the way Oz paused after that.

_'We're out, Mercury made sure of that, but Salem can't be far behind. She won't let you go that easily, and won't let him go unpunished. We need to leave.'_

"You can't seriously be asking me to trust the guy who kidnapped us and tried to kill my friends, right?" Oscar was _tired_ , tired of having to figure out who to trust, tired of being used and being put in the middle of difficult situations and - he was tired. How could he possibly trust this guy - Mercury? He'd been at Haven Academy, worked side by side with Salem, and, from what he'd been told, played an active part in the death of more than one of his friend's partners. And Oz was asking him to _trust_ him?

_'He did save us, turned against her. Even if you can’t trust him right now, at least consider going along with him. You and I both know we can't make it through this tundra on our own after…'_ He trailed off,

"What, after I got tortured because of you?" Even if he was angry at Oz he couldn't help the spark of guilt that came with the retort and the deafening silence that followed. It wasn’t his fault, not entirely, and he found himself wanting to take back the words but wasn’t sure how. After a long moment he sighed, "Do you really think it's our only option?" 

Oz seemed to hesitate, if only for a moment,

_'Yes.'_

Oscar closed his eyes, then sighed,

"Fine. But for now I just...need some time alone," He paused, “And...sorry,” It felt awkward to add and it was met with silence, he took that as Oz having honored his request. Maybe he should’ve simply waited for Mercury to come back, but instead he pushed himself up off the bed, even if he wanted to curl up and pretend none of this was happening he needed to do something, even if that just meant investigating a dingy outpost. He instinctively reached behind him only for air and the back of his jacket to meet his grasp. Panic first flared through him as he released his - Ozpin's staff wasn't with him, then he just felt exhausted. Of course they'd have taken his weapon, of course Mercury wouldn't have retrieved it, of course he'd lose his only means of self defense when everything else had already gone so sideways he couldn't see straight, "Can I have just _one_ thing go right?" He muttered to himself, pacing the small room. _Maybe_ he could find something here to use as a weapon, but he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to hide it from Mercury, and if he and Oz were going to make him trust them maybe it was better to avoid taking such risks.

Attempting to put aside his frustration he looked over the building. There wasn't much, beds, a heater, and some other things. The floor was old and scuffed but covered in a thin layer of dust, like no one had really used this place in awhile, while the walls were a dark slate gray with two windows indented in one of them. Curious, if only for a moment, he glanced outside. It was dark, almost pitch black across the tundra, and snow was falling heavily while the muted sounds of roaring winds rattled the panes ever so slightly. That wasn't really what caught his attention though, it was the boy - Mercury - sitting in the snow with his head in his hands, snow dusting his figure as he seemed to just stare at the ground. Similar to the position Oscar had been in only a few moments ago. The snow around him was trampled and displaced, as if he'd been stomping around, maybe he was telling the truth and this situation was taking its toll on him as well. Or maybe he was lying and just waiting for the right moment to turn on Oscar like everyone else had. But he couldn't help the nagging feeling that wasn't quite right.

Nonetheless Oscar watched him, brows drawn together in curiosity mixed with a sense of apprehension. He looked…conflicted almost and Oscar nearly jumped as he reared his head back, pinching the bridge of his nose and mumbling something he definitely couldn't hear from the confines of the outpost. He couldn't have been much older than Ruby, probably Yang's age at the most...he was still young, maybe...maybe he did have a change of heart. Saw things the way they really were and...Oscar shook his head. Mercury had told him himself, he was doing what was best for him. Surviving. But he couldn't help but wonder how someone that young had ever gotten wrapped up in Salem's plans. Couldn't help but feel there was more going on than what he said. He looked back out the window, Mercury was staring out over the horizon, expression unreadable, and Oscar decided to draw his attention elsewhere.

He had wanted him to take him to his friends. That'd mean leading him straight into Mantle, right under Atlas, and right into the heart of their operations. It was dangerous but...what other choice did he have at this point? He briefly considered whether or not he could sneak off and get there himself but his Aura wasn't completely regenerated yet and he wasn't even sure where they were, not to mention Mercury was right outside the only entrance and exit the outpost had. No, that definitely wasn't going to work. And if he did bring Mercury to Mantle, he'd be alone, outnumbered, he definitely wouldn't try anything then, right? He couldn't be that dumb.

If he was going to do this he'd have to make Mercury trust him. That couldn't be too hard, right? _Right..._

* * *

  
  


It took Mercury a bit to cool down and head back into the outpost, rational thought overriding his emotions for a moment and telling him he _had_ to go inside before the cold took any more of a toll on his Aura. The kid was standing by the window when he came back inside and he seemed unsure of what to do, to be honest so was Mercury. He shifted his weight, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly,

“Okay, listen-” He started, but the kid cut him off for the second time tonight,

“I’ll take you to Mantle - that’s where my friends are,” Oh. That was easier than he thought it’d be. _Too easy?_ He wondered briefly, but, hey, he wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Then he stopped. Wait. _Mantle_?

“Mantle?” He repeated, just to be sure of himself, being met with a nod from Oscar, “Mantle...well, that’ll definitely be easier than Atlas,” He muttered, mostly to himself. Mercury looked up, “How’s your Aura?”

The kid shrugged, then winced. _Not great_. Mercury sighed, trying to figure out how to work around this, then the kid piped up,

“It’s fine, one of my teammates can help. If we just make it to Mantle, I’ll be fine,” He almost sounded like he was reassuring him and Mercury couldn’t exactly figure out _why_ he’d want to do that when he was the one who’d been beaten to a pulp a few hours ago. The way he insisted he was fine, already trying to move on and hash out a plan...it almost reminded him of Emerald. Despite her facade she was always the type to put others first and ignore her own wounds, physical or mental, as if they weren’t important. Mercury had always hated it,

“...Fine,”

  
  


The kid had wanted them to leave as soon as possible but Mercury made them stay in the outpost long enough for their Auras to replenish some more...and he had wanted to rummage through the supply cabinets, see if there was anything worth taking with them. In the end there wasn’t much, a few expired cans of food and frozen bottles of water, and he got up from where he stood crouched in front of them and grumbled in annoyance,

“Atlesian military outpost, you think they’d have something useful in here,” He muttered to himself, kicking closed the cabinet door and turning around to face Oscar, who was carefully - though it still seemed painful - stretching in preparation for their trek, “There's nothing else here for us, let’s go,” The kid looked up at him, briefly seeming surprised, then he hardened his gaze and nodded. There was still an air of awkwardness and uncertainty between them and Mercury kept his distance as he walked past him and made for the door. He paused, thinking something over. _Neither of us are making it out of this if you don’t suck it up and give the twerp some kind of benefit of the doubt_. Begrudgingly he stuck his hand into his jacket and into one of the inner pockets, pulling something out, handing it back towards the kid,

“...Here,”

* * *

Oscar stared at Mercury’s outstretched hand, holding The Long Memory in it’s loose grasp. _He had it the entire time?_ He raised his hand, then paused, looking up at Mercury who was pointedly avoiding his gaze. Clearly he had mixed feelings about this whole situation but...this was a show of trust, wasn’t it? Oscar grabbed the cane, holstering it quickly and rolling his shoulders, comfortable again with the familiar weight on his belt.

A blast of cold air stole his attention again as Mercury opened the door, Oscar hurrying to follow him into the tundra and pulling closed the heavy metal barrier behind him. He caught up to him with a few short strides, silence stretching between the two of them. After a moment of contemplation he spoke up,

“Thanks - for giving me my cane back,” It was...awkward and he cringed in the moments afterwards, but Mercury simply shrugged his shoulders,

“Whatever, figured you’d be less likely to get yourself killed if I gave that back,” At that Oscar resisted the urge to roll his eyes,

“I’m not some helpless kid, you know,” He retorted, “...A lot has changed since Haven,” Mercury went quiet and Oscar wondered if it was a poor choice of subject to bring up, then he scoffed,

“Yeah, yeah, just don’t go wacking me in the back of the head with that thing. We’ve got a long way to Mantle and I doubt you’d want to try it on your own,” 

After that the two of them fell silent, nothing but the roar of wind and the crunch of snow under their boots there to fill the void. Oscar glanced over at Mercury, trying to read his expression, more and more questions filling his head. There was something more going on here, something beneath that masquerade of cold and uncaring ambivalence, of doing whatever was best for his survival and his alone. He knew Mercury was feeling more than he was letting on - well, maybe he didn’t know, but he could _feel_ it. You don’t just defect from Salem on a whim, you don’t save someone you’ve never known or cared for on a whim. Something had changed, he didn’t know him, barely knew his name, but he was sure something had happened and shifted something in Mercury. And that was _good_. That reminded him why they - RWBY and JNPR and Qrow and everyone else - were doing this in the first place.

Oscar looked away and forward, the walls of Mantle were just visible in the distance, the darkness of the crater like a blot of ink against the white snowscape, and as the dark night sky began to ever so slowly lighten into dawn he smiled, just a small thing, barely there to begin with. Maybe he didn’t have to play at trusting Mercury and making him think he could trust him, maybe...he just had to tap into something that was already there and something genuine would arise. Maybe this could work out after all.

  
  
  



End file.
